Blog Archives - chuckanuttransition.com

Thanks to all who contributed to the Alger Community Fun'raiser!

9/21/2015

Much gratitude to all the businesses and people who donated time and resources to this year's fundraiser. We raised just under $2900 and had a heck of a good time doing it!
Contributing businesses include: ALGER BAR AND GRILLE, BLANCHARD MT. COFFEE, LIZ ZEBOLD, VERENA GIEBELS, MAE-B-MARKET, BURLINGTON AUTO, CHARMED CHOCOLATES, BELL ALGER SAND AND GRAVEL, SUPERIOR AUTO, MASS SPEC DETECTIVES, GENES PUB, SUPERIOR AUTO, & BOW LITTLE MARKET VENDORS.
Because of this community's generosity the Alger Community Hall will be able to start the process of replacing the woodshed and wheelchair ramp. The new upgraded woodshed will also have an area to store Chuckanut Transition's Community Cider Press and a spigot for outside water use that can be locked and secure when not in use.

~Anette Witter

Confessions of a Rain Nerd: Viewing daily precipitation online

9/21/2015

Confessions of Rain Nerd: Viewing daily precipitation online

I never really paid much attention to daily precipitation until my husband and I were asked if we wanted to participate in recording on CoCoRaHS. Now I am slowly turning into a precipitation nerd, each morning at 6:00 I ask, “How much rain did we get?”, and run out to the rain gauge.

CoCoRaHS is an acronym for the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network. CoCoRaHS is a unique, non-profit, community-based network of volunteers of all ages and backgrounds working together to measure and map precipitation.

In the Alger area there are two stations (homes) reporting daily, WA-SG-50 (downtown Alger) and WA-SG-48 (off of Friday Creek Road). Everyone can view the data for any area in the US, by going to the web site http://www.cocorahs.org/. This site has a lot of interesting data and information.

As everyone knows, our summer was quite dry. June’s total .90 inches (average 1.97). July’s total rain was .31 inches (average 1.18). August fared a bit better 1.31 inches (average 1.34), but most of that came at the end of the month. September has already exceeded its average of 1.69. As of September 21st, we have had 5.49 inches! Let us hope our snow pack is increasing in the mountains.

Your daily reporting rain nerd,
Anette

Update on Neighborhood Mapping and Disaster Planning

9/21/2015

Neighborhood Mapping and Disaster Planning:

Did you know that there are a series of organized steps that neighborhoods can take to minimize chaos in the event of a disaster?

Did you know that it is the events within the first hour of a disaster that either mitigate or enhance the severity of a disaster’s impact?

Did you know that there are a group of neighbors that would like to connect to make a coherent neighborhood disaster plan?

Did you know that Chuckanut Transition has been meeting at the Alger Community Hall with neighbors and emergency response professionals to formulate a proactive response plan in the face of multiple, predictable emergencies?

Are you interested in learning more or being trained in specific procedures? Whether you have the recommended three months of emergency food supplies or you just care enough to step up and participate, stay tuned for more information about this process in the next newsletter! Please contact Mike Stevens at mstevens@blainesd.org if you would like to participate in or observe the Regulus, Turtle, and Peace Lane training.

~Mike Stevens

Killing Two Birds: A Drought Story

9/21/2015

Harvesting Hops - Photo by Sarai Stevens

Killing Two Birds: A Drought Story
By Mike Stevens
September 2015

This summer was hot and dry. Our property location is not ideal for gardening due to lack of groundwater and a 12 foot well that annually goes dry. Our irrigation water is limited, so the choice of where and what to water is always on our minds. This year, we made an accidental discovery that will be an intentional strategy in later summers of drought. In short, a new bed of cabbage starts demanded water— survival meaning more delicious lacto-fermented sauerkraut this fall— so we prioritized making sure that the cabbages were taken care of… Fortunately, this bed drained its run-off onto an established hop bed; this generated a very healthy harvest of hops that would not have been flourishing anywhere near their level of productivity without the excess nutrient rich water from the starts. Now, preparing to bottle twelve gallons of fresh-hopped home brew, I’m happily sitting on more than 45 pounds of hops in the freezer; honestly, it makes me want to grow more cabbages next year!

Windstorm Haiku By Jill Emerson

9/20/2015

Windstorm Haiku
By Jill Emerson

Tree fell
goat fence down
goats out

This note from Jill Emerson was found on my cutting board when I returned from alternately clutching and chasing my materials at the Skill Share Faire. I fired up my chainsaw and bucked up a tall cherry that had fallen over two sections of fence. We had the firewood stacked, the fence fixed and the goats bedded down before dark.

Peace from Peace Lane,
Chuck

Two Flies A' Dancing on a Dead Rats Nose

9/20/2015

Calliphora vicina or vomitoria

Two Flies A' Dancing on a Dead Rat's Nose
Photo and sonnet by Chuck Nafziger
September, 2015

My tripped trap in the barn down by my toes.
Had caught a varmint and what did I see
Two Flies A' Dancing on a Dead Rat's nose
Good grub for the flies and a poem for me.

Our lady flies are done when eggs are laid.
Hatched'n twenty four hours, young go their ways..
Twenty hours eating, full maggots are made.
Relieved by a molt, resume for two days.

Shed again, eat three days more, then move out,
Pupate elev'n days and become a fly
Timing so reg'lar, used to remove doubt
Tell by the stage when the victim did die.*

Blow flies recycled my victim the rat
I hope this poor soul returns as a bat.

* Crime scene investigations sometimes analyze the stage of development of blow fly maggots to determine the approximate time of death.

Uncertainty

9/20/2015

Saw Fly

Uncertainty
Photos and Essay By Chuck Nafziger
April 2015

The old adage says the only things certain are death and taxes. Uncertainty seems to be a goal in our crazy, fast paced society; uncertainty in job security, planning for retirement, and climate. Malls and large stores are set up so there are no easy ways to get from one place to another. Uncertainty and disorientation make it more probable that the confused customer will make unplanned purchases. There is uncertainty as to whether the Post Office will withstand the government's attempts to crush it, whether public education will be destroyed by privatization, or whether imperial overreach will blow back war to our shores.

It seems every day when Jill and I sit on the porch having lunch, a vulture flies over. We always yell, "Not today, check again tomorrow." It is uncertain when he will get his treat.

My bug photography has thrown me way off balance. Nothing I expect happens and new things, many that I had never heard of before, pop up. Luckily, Belinda, my bug photography mentor, showed me a link to a site that both details a huge number of bugs, and allows one to submit photos for identification. I hate to bother Dr. Peterson with all the new and beautiful insects I have been finding. The site, bugguide.net, has been invaluable in making IDs for me. Now I can be fairly certain of identifications--I was always uncertain when finding insects on Flick'r sites since there is a great amount of miss-identification on the web. But proper identification is only the first step in the study of what behavior the bug might have, how many of the bugs are around, and how it interacts with me and my life here. The attached photos are some of my new ones, with identifications coming from a variety of places.

The future may be uncertain but I think it is important to stay in the present and not to do too much "future tripping." For now, I want to at least better understand what is here around me. That may help me better understand how the pieces may work in a changing environment, but by itself, it is fun today.

Reflections on the Drought

9/20/2015

Reflections on the Drought
By Chuck Nafziger
September, 2015

There was lots of concern and a bit of action dealing with this summer's drought. I am very fortunate that the previous owner, Michael Eisenberg, had the forethought to put in a deep pond so I have a good water storage system. I use the water for my bathroom, irrigation, and in an emergency, the water would could be boiled for kitchen use; but it is available. I get my drinking water out of a different well with beautiful clean water.

For all that was said about the dryness this year, few years ago, it was worse. I have a good metric. During the dry spell in 2012, I put in a couple of steps going into my pond. They are made out of the big concrete septic tank access lids that were left over after I installed pipe risers on my tank. I had to bed them in a concrete footing in the exposed shallow edge of the pond to get them to stay where I wanted them on the hardpan bottom of the pond. I took advantage of the low water a couple of years ago to accomplish the task. I thought that this year I would be able to put in a deeper step, but the water did not even go down as far as it had in 2012. This year, Washington State had more, bigger forest fires, but that was caused by the increase in lightning storms that are coming our way--another climate change that may continue in the future.

In 2012, the drought continued into the fall, and the mushroom season was severely affected. This year, the recent rains promise lots of edible fungi. We got lucky weatherwise.

All in all, we are in a blessed part of the world for water. Planning ahead and establishing storage systems is crucial. Personally, I am also gradually replacing all my roofing with metal to help in the case of fire. As droughts, deluges and more wildfires become the "new normal," we are still in one of the best places for dealing with the changes, but we have to do some preparation

Do you want to be a part of Chuckanut Transition's Drought Project?

9/20/2015

Do You Want To Be A Part of Chuckanut Transition's Drought Project?

The Chuckanut Transition Initiating Group is compiling experiences, strategies, successes and failures dealing with drought in our homes and gardens. We will then present and discuss information this winter. If you wish to contribute to the project or have certain information that you would like to learn about email us at chuckanuttransition@gmail.com.

Summary of Neighborhood Watch Program

9/20/2015

In August, Sergeant Jenny Sheahan-Lee came out to the Alger Community Hall and shared information on the Skagit County Neighborhood Watch program. If interested in neighborhood watch in your own area, the first step after talking with your neighbors is to assign who will be the lead contact for your group and email Sheahan-Lee at sheriff@co.skagit.wa.us. or call 360-336-9450 to register the contact lead's name, number and email.

Sheahan-Lee also shared resources available online. There is an Online Citizen’s Report page where you can report small crimes (like stolen gas cans, etc.) that usually go unreported. Another important tool is the Neighborhood CrimeMap, which allows people to search their immediate area and learn of the type and frequency of criminal activity. Visit Skagit County Sheriff's Neighborhood Watch Website Page for more information on how to better protect yourself and your property.

~Information Submitted by Rosemary Ryan of Alger